ARCHIVED - British paedophile teacher sentenced to 138 years in Spain
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The Brit, who had been convicted of child pornography crimes in the UK, changed his name in order to teach minors in Spain
British paedophile Ben Lewis has been sentenced to 138 years behind bars by a Madrid court for recording images of naked children under his care and distributing them in child pornography forums. Despite the lengthy sentence, it is likely that Lewis will be out in 20 years, after which time he will have to participate in sexual education programs and remain on probation for eight years.
Incredibly, the 31-year-old paedophile escaped a prison sentence in the UK for similar offences in 2016, when he made an indecent recording of a nine-year-old girl at a summer camp where he worked. After receiving a suspended sentence, Lewis changed his name by Deed Poll to Ben David Rose and moved to Spain, where he falsified references to get a job as an au pair for the families of young children in Zaragoza and Madrid.
Lewis later secured a position as an English teacher at a school in Madrid.
In both positions, the paedophile covertly filmed and photographed the young children before sharing the footage on porn sites.
At the trial on Thursday May 26, the magistrates concluded that, “from the result of the videos and recordings, in the three areas where they were made (the two homes and the school), it can be inferred without particular difficulty that Ben Lewis used electronic instruments for both the recording and the photographs, as for storage.”
Lewis was arrested in Spain in June 2020 and has been held in custody until his trial this week. He has been convicted of a number of crimes, including making and distributing child pornography, a crime against moral integrity and document falsification and has also been ordered to pay compensation to the families of the children he violated.
Child protection charities in the UK have slammed the legal loophole that allows convicted sex offenders to create a new identity so easily.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The government is working with a range of partners to disrupt those who travel overseas to abuse children and bring justice to victims and survivors.
“Registered sex offenders are legally required to inform the police if they change their name and of any foreign travel. Failure to do so is a criminal offence, punishable by a maximum of five years' imprisonment.”
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